Syracuse, N.Y. -- Louinesky Augustin, a 4-year-old from Haiti, arrived in Syracuse Wednesday with an enlarged heart the size of a 10-year-old child’s.

When he put his hand on the boy’s chest, Dr. Frank Smith, a pediatric cardiologist at Crouse Hospital, said it felt like there was a beehive in the child’s heart.

“It was just buzzing, buzzing,” Smith said. “It felt like a vibrating machine.”

August suffered from patent ductous arteriosus, an opening between two major blood vessels leading from the heart.

This opening normally closes shortly after birth. But in some children, it remains open, causing too much blood to flow through the heart and weakening the heart muscle.

The condition stunted Louinesky’s growth. He’s the size of a 2 ½-year old child. It also makes him tire out quickly. Over time the condition can lead to heart failure, high blood pressure and other serious problems.

When a U.S. child is born with this defect it’s typically repaired before age 1.
But such specialized care is not available in Haiti, one of the poorest nations in the world.

Partners in Health, a nonprofit founded by Dr. Paul Farmer that provides health care in Haiti, arranged for Louinesky to get treated in Syracuse at Crouse Hospital and Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital. He’s the third Haitian child treated in Syracuse since Upstate agreed to help PIH more than a year ago.

He was admitted at Golisano Wednesday.

Drs. Daniel Kveselis and Craig Byrum, pediatric cardiologists, fixed Louinesky’s heart defect Friday next door at Crouse, which has the only pediatric cardiac catheterization program in the region. A thin catheter tube was threaded through a blood vessel to the heart. Through the catheter, a mesh device was inserted to close the opening.

“A case like this is a shot of adrenaline,” said Smith, who has traveled to Haiti twice in the past two years to evaluate children with heart problems who might be suitable for treatment at Crouse or Upstate. Smith met and examined the boy in June while conducting a clinic in Haiti.

Luc Augustin of Sodo, Haiti, watches as his 4-year-old son Louinesky is taken to a cardiac catheterization lab at Crouse Hospital Friday by registered nurses Terry Hallinan, left, and Ashlee Walter.John Berry/The Post-Standard

Smith said the people in Louinesky’s home town of Sido, Haiti will see him return as a “new little man.”

“It shows them what health care can do and what Partners in Health can do,” Smith said.

Crouse and Upstate donated their services. Travel and other related expenses were paid by PIH.

Louinesky and his father, Luc Augustin, arrived in Syracuse Wednesday. They flew from Haiti to Boston and were driven here by Sarah Candio of PIH who served as their interpreter.

One of their first stops in Syracuse was Destiny USA to buy some warm clothes. Temperatures rarely dip below 70 degrees in Haiti.
Augustin, 43, who works as a well digger, thought the shopping mall was beautiful and said he will tell people about it in Haiti when he gets home.

He was even more impressed by the care his son got here.

“Without the help of foreigners, I wouldn’t have been able to get this operation for my son.”